The injury-plagued and written-off Braves are now on the verge of securing a spot in the postseason

ATLANTA – The Braves are on the verge of clinching a postseason berth by winning the last two nights against the Kansas City Royals, and they can count on starters Max Fried and Reynaldo López and the guys behind the plate, Sean Murphy and, thank you Travis d'Arnaud.

One night after Fried was confident in a 3-0, 8 2/3 inning win in which Murphy hit a two-run home run, López came off the injured list Saturday and pitched six near-perfect innings with nine strikeouts as well d'Arnaud hit a bases-less walk-off home run with one out in the ninth inning in a 2-1 win.

The resurgent Braves, who have won seven of their last eight games, can clinch a seventh straight postseason berth with a win Sunday against Kansas City or Arizona's loss to San Diego.

“I mean, this has been great here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the push from a team many had written off weeks ago when numerous injuries finally seemed too much to overcome. But here they are, silencing many skeptics.

“It was playoff baseball. Lots of emotions. That’s why we play this thing, to get in these positions and see it through to the end,” Snitker added.

Travis d'Arnaud (center) hit the walk-off home run that a teammate called a “boost of energy.” (Dale Zanine/Imagn Images)

Charlie Morton will start for the Braves in what could be the final game of the regular season, depending on whether the Braves' scheduled doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday is needed for anything other than the wild-card seeding.

“It's great, especially when they're this big right now,” d'Arnaud said of the emotions he felt after his final hit, a one-out home run to center field off lefty Sam Long that sent his teammates streaming out of the dugout celebrated and thrilled a wet, rowdy crowd in the rainy Truist Park.

“It's pretty special to do it with a solo home run,” d'Arnaud said of his fifth career walk-off RBI and his second walk-off home run. “Any kind of win is special at this time of year. But I think what our pitchers did is better than what I ended up doing because I wouldn’t have had that opportunity if our pitchers hadn’t kept us in the game the way they did.”

Lopez said through an interpreter, “That was just a great home run for us, and I feel like that gave us a boost of energy.”

Combined with the Mets and Diamondbacks' losses on Saturday, the Braves had a one-game lead over the other teams fighting for the final two NL wild-card spots, setting up an opportunity for the Braves and Mets to face each other on Sunday and Sunday To secure victory Avoid having to play on Monday, a day before the best-of-three wild-card series begins in San Diego and Milwaukee.

With the Braves and Mets both in the head-to-head tiebreaker against Arizona, a loss by the Diamondbacks on Sunday, coupled with wins by the Braves and Mets, would allow both teams to win on Sunday and probably not have to play on Monday since In In this case, the doubleheader would serve no purpose other than determining the wild card seeds for the Braves and Mets.

MLB hasn't said anything officially, but has indicated that the Braves and Mets wouldn't play on Monday if both had won, and instead the Braves, who have a 6-5 record against the Mets, would face the Padres as the fifth seed in an NLDS.

The Mets would be the sixth seed and would face the Brewers. But that only applies if both the Braves (88-71) and Mets (87-72) win on Sunday and the Diamondbacks (88-73) lose. If the Mets lose on Sunday, they will have to play on Monday to catch up with the Diamondbacks. The Mets have a direct tiebreaker against Arizona.

The Braves considered all scenarios before choosing Morton as Sunday's starter. If the Braves prevail on Sunday, they could start ace Chris Sale in the first game of a Wild Card Series, after which Fried or rookie star Spencer Rumpfenbach will be available in either order.

It's fortunate for the Braves that their pitching has remained so strong down the stretch, as their bats have performed well the past two nights after the two-day break due to Hurricane Helene and the torrential rains that wiped out games Wednesday and Thursday. The Mets were largely silent.

“Our rotation might be the best from top to bottom since I’ve been manager here,” Snitker said.

One of the Braves' three runs on Friday came on a throwing error, and their only run over seven innings on Saturday, when they were 0-6 with runners in scoring position, ended in the fourth on a throwing error by Royals reliever Paul Lorenzen in the inning it Jorge Soler to score after his two-out double.

López pitched for the first time since starting on September 10 due to shoulder soreness and showed no lasting effects. He was great.

He retired the first six batters, including four strikeouts. Then, after giving up two singles to start the third inning, López recorded 12 outs in his final 11 batters, starting with a double-play grounder by Dairon Blanco that brought in the Royals' only run.

López was perfect in the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings and had two strikeouts in four of those five innings.

“It’s amazing what he does after (IL stints),” Snitker said. “It’s like when it was against the Phillies.”

After spending three and a half weeks on the IL with forearm inflammation, López faced the Phillies on August 20 and recorded ten strikeouts with one walk in five innings in a 3-1 win.

“Just try not to do too much,” López said through an interpreter. “And then I just have the confidence in all of my pitches regardless of whether I'm coming off the IL or healthy. I’m just trying to maintain that confidence in my abilities and my arsenal.”

Even against a Royals reserve lineup in a “hangover” game — the Royals’ clubhouse celebration had spilled onto the field in front of the visitors’ dugout two hours after their Friday night loss — the Braves were thrilled with what they saw from López since then The All-Star could play a key role in the postseason.

“I think when he hit 99 in the first inning he was doing well,” d'Arnaud said, smiling as he recalled the top-velocity fastball. “His bullpen (Thursday) was electric, too. I think having him go six innings after missing that time is a huge confidence builder for us going forward, especially if we're lucky enough to advance. Having him along with all of our other great starters will be a deadly weapon.”

Due to the IL stay, it was only López's sixth start in two months. That was a strong start, especially under these circumstances.

He threw just 24 innings in two months before facing the Royals, who had prevailed in a Minnesota Twins loss to the Baltimore Orioles the night before and had a lineup heavy with relievers. Still, López impressed with his command and speed, with a fastball top speed of 98.9 mph and an average of 95.5 mph, a 0.7 mph increase over his season average.

López threw nearly as many sliders (34) as fastballs (36), and his slider velocity was also 1.1 mph above his season average. He caused 18 swings and 12 misses with that slider, confusing the Royals' hitters.

It was an interesting second half for López, who has been a backup player in recent years and signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Braves in late November, in part because they promised he would get a starting opportunity. Many speculated that this wouldn't last long and that López would be back in June, if not sooner, throwing triple-digit fastballs in a bullpen role.

But he earned a rotation spot in the spring and stayed there on his way to becoming an All-Star and a key piece for Atlanta.

He finished the regular season with a 2.00 ERA in 25 starts, second-worst in the majors among pitchers with at least 100 innings, behind the Pirates' rookie sensation Paul Skenes (1.99 in 22 starts). López's ERA is the lowest by an NL pitcher in 25 or more starts since Jacob deGrom's 1.70 in 2015.

His 1.80 ERA in 14 starts at Truist Park is the lowest home ERA in Atlanta franchise history among pitchers with 80 or more innings, trailing only Hall of Famer Greg Maddux's 1.76 from that year 1994.

Now he and the Braves appear to be ready for the postseason.

(Top photo by Travis d'Arnaud: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)